Speaaaaking of equippable parts, do we have a Range increase part yet? Might be an idea to give that to David if we do, unlike Layzner and Buldy, Baybull lacks a long range attack to counter with...

Equip Skygrasper 2 with the Aile pack and give it the Megabooster for now. I REQUIRE MORE SPEED.

Puzzle Robo:[spoiler]Ok... first off, let's show off some GUTS. Then plant Ryoko on the cliff face that allows her to use her Wired Fist. Counterattack against the enemy we're attacking and defend against the other one. Hopefully that will be enough both to finish that one off and also keep Ryoko alive... [/spoiler]

Speaaaaking of equippable parts, do we have a Range increase part yet? Might be an idea to give that to David if we do, unlike Layzner and Buldy, Baybull lacks a long range attack to counter with...

We do. I gave it to Eiji because he was having similar problems, and I figured a series main character took precedence over someone who was merely memetically awesome

Quote

Puzzle Robo:[spoiler]Ok... first off, let's show off some GUTS. Then plant Ryoko on the cliff face that allows her to use her Wired Fist. Counterattack against the enemy we're attacking and defend against the other one. Hopefully that will be enough both to finish that one off and also keep Ryoko alive... [/spoiler]

[spoiler]That won't work. We lose if we haven't killed someone by the time the enemy turn starts.[/spoiler]

Logged

"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing."

Lets see, can we get the megabooster onto Kira? I think he has the evasion to survive it and once he goes SEED they're never gonna touch him. Mount the water jet onto the Archangel, I want to see antimatter weapons underwater!

Switch Kira into the Aile pack and let Cagalli have the Launcher. Kira should do fine once he can get SEED mode going even with the weaker Aile weapons(and Megaboost + Aile = superfast), and Cagalli could use the XP.

"Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. At 2:15, it begins rolling up characters."

[spoiler]"Just what do you think the moon up in the sky is? Everyone sees that big, round shiny thing and thinks there must be something round up there, right? That's just silly. The truth is much more awesome than that. You can almost never see the real Moon, and its appearance is death to humans. You can only see the Moon when it's reflected in things. And the things it reflects in, like water or glass, can all be broken, right? Since the moon you see in the sky is just being reflected in the heavens, if you tear open the heavens it's easy to break it~" -Ibuki Suika, on overkill

Puzzle Robo:[spoiler]Healing is pointless, since you cannot allow the enemy to survive your attack to win this puzzle. Use Spirit to gain the necessary Will to use Distortion Punch, and attack the eastern Radam Beast.[/spoiler]

For upgrades, it sounds like the Layzner units have tried using a gun, so it's time to use more gun. Upgrade their weapons systems. (Yes, in case you haven't noticed, my upgrade strategy is pretty much pure Attenborough when we can get away with it.)

Giving Kira the Water Jet seems reasonable.

Give Cagalli the Aile pack. Much as I love her (and if we can switch her into the Gundam at some point, I'm all for that), it's clear that she is pretty much shafted in the offensive contribution department, so may as well embrace what her machine can do properly.

This one isn't too difficult, using Spirit unlocks Distortion Punch which is further powered up by Ryoko's low health and Prevail skill, to do the needed 3000 damage. Its mainly a reminder that sometimes, healing isn't the best option. Still, I like to do it anyway if I have healing units with nothing else to do, though some might argue you just don't use healing units. At this stage of the game though, we don't really have the luxury of choice.

The votes said to give Kira both the Water Jet and the Megabooster, which is what I did, thus freeing up useful parts for other units. The Bellzelute gets an EN boost, Mu some extra armor, and the Layzner guys some dodge boosts. We'll see how that helps.

And there weren't actually many suggestions for upgrades this time, just some firepower for the Layzner crew and more EN for the Bellzelute. This actually leaves us with a fair bit of unspent money this time, which is unexpected. We'll see if going without spending every dime was the better idea.

Attach the Aile pack to the new fighter and we're done. Plot On:

"On the left are the testicle electrodes, and straight ahead is the mechanism for dipping people into the ships sewage, and just a bit after that is where I keep the only man who ever loved me."

Ah-ha-ha, silly D-Boy. Everyone is expendable in the UEFA!

"Thinking makes people buoyant, right?"

Thats a lie! David only 99% hates war!

Once again, Mu solves all our problems.

...You can do that? I'd have thought if that was an option, well...

The Blue Earth was never Firepower.

...Huh? Well, going by game mechanics, if you used spirits properly it could avoid most attacks, but it'd eventually run out of EN for its cannons if you sent it up against more than 5 or 6 average units.

...Wait, so now ZAFT can't attack us because of the refugees? The ones Yzak blasted to hell with an oversized grenade last level? Suddenly this is an issue for them?

Kuzzey is so lame he's not even sure in which way to pussy out.

"Young people eat now? Whats the world coming to?"

....Which is kinda an admission that even at the worst points of getting their asses kicked by the Jovians, the UEFA still wanted to pour all their research money into killing those damned dirty Coordinators, and basically made no secret of it.

Welcome to the future.... IIIIN THE YEEAAARR TWOOO THOUUUUSSAAAANNNDD!

....Wait, isn't the UN secretary general like, the leader of the entire UN? Doesn't he have better things to be doing than bumming around on an experimental science boat in the middle of the Indian Ocean when, y'know, theres a freaking World War on? Has the Atlantic Federation cockblocked the UN that badly?

More fuel for the theory that the only way the UEFA could be this stupid and rascist is that its a scam by arm dealers to milk the war economy for all its worth. The Patriots would be proud.

...Oh goddammit, not another doomsday threat.

"Oh, so you'll give me full citizenship in order to help legitimise my message of peace?""Fuck no, I'm on holiday, can't ya see? Anoa!! Another martini!!"

Simple human empathy? In this setting? What the heck?

"Also, we test how puppies react to acid. And how old people react to crystal meth. For science."

...Wait, I thought the Reclaimers were totally seperate from the Federation. The two we saw before were talking about having to fight the UEFA. Are you saying they still get Federation funding?

I feel I should settle this now: Lasse is a guy. His name was probably meant to be Russ, but these things get mixed up during character design and all. He and Nanga Silverly here are Heterosexual Life Mates, and Nanga has a girl while Lasse appears to be a swinger at least to start with.

....Uh, child soldier have been around since day one, dude. They've had thousands of years to herald the apocalypse, I don't think they're gonna start now.

More whale noise from the Brains. Wait, why does Nanga have to remind the Brain thats so bonded to him they share a name, that he's not its enemy?

For the Reclaimers getting Feddie funding, consider it in the context of the Expanded Theory of UEFA Incompetence. If the Federation is not only incompetent in its armed forces, but also in its bureaucracy (as would be necessary to prevent them from realizing how laughably worthless their armed forces are), it would be quite natural (no pun intended) for there to be some line item in the budget that still gets funding to the Reclaimers, even after they've cut ties with the government.

(Incidentally, this theory is further bolstered by their military research priorities, as you pointed out above.)

"Lets decide this over a nice family game!! I call it 'Shoot Each Other In The Face'. I'll go first!"

....Okay, so apparently the Reclaimers brought a Brain Powerd back to Orphan with them to destroy? I can kinda see where they were coming from, but wouldn't it have been simpler to just, I dunno, blow it up where it was rather than capture it and risk taking it home, like Yuu was doing to do with Hime Brain the last time? Were they studying it or something? Why this one and not the others?

I should point out that Orphan is really fucking big, like, the size of a mountain range. A bazooka round wouldn't do dick to it, even if it has some kind of hill-sized organs (which wouldn't be anywhere close to where the Reclaimers build their hangar bays). So Quincy really is just overreacting here.

Also, is it a bazooka or a missile launcher, or some kind of gun that shoots bazookas?

Again, the plot gives the Chakra Shield enough power to survive nearly anything, even though in-game its only an average shield.

I have no idea who or what Qumelies is. The Brain Powerd plot doesn't seem to have been included in full, like the plots of other series, but in this case its a big drawback because the Brain Powerd plot is full-on Yoshiyuki Tomino craziness and needs all the explanation it can get.

"Good 'instincts'? What does that even mean, and how does it help me scout?""If you're quick enough to steal the last of my pizza rolls, you should be quick enough to avoid being torn to shreds by the Reclaimers. So get out there."

Wait, is Geybridge actually meant to be in charge? I'm not saying he's a bad choice, but he already has a job!

...Yeah, this really just sounds like Anoa wants Hime dead.

It worries me that the mad scientist chick is the only one here who seems to be listening to the rest of the trio.

Wasn't she the one that gave that order?

The UEFA couldn't restrain a brick if its edges were rounded. Using your true power seems wasteful when farting in their general direction would work.

You can really tell they're bonding.

The Reclaimers in their Grand Chers teleport in (which begs the question of why Yuu took the long way, but whatever).

Kanan rushes over with the speed of plot:

Again, another apparently important character development scene that we're only informed about. But there seems to be a lot of those in Brain Powerd, so lets not dwell on it.

Hime charges in and scatters the group.

And just like that, the two do their own teleport.

"Right after they dismantle Anoa's clamps."

Battle is joined and the first thing to do, naturally, is to charge straight back at Shiela and Kanan, after casting Focus. I suppose I could have played keepaway all around the map for a while, but I'm too impatient for that kind of approach.

Oh and yeah, Spoilers, Yuu and Hime love each other. In fact, they start out with their combo attack from the very beginning, despite only knowing each other a total of ten minutes.

Kanan takes a shot with her missiles, but its Hime who scores a hit. The Brains and Grand Chers both have a Chakra Shield to take the edge off attacks, but its not as powerful as the D-Field in gameplay terms. It still makes the Grand Chers one of the most annoying enemy types to fight, coupled with their agility. It doesn't help that theres no variations with Reclaimers units like other enemy groups, its just Grand Chers and different colored Grand Chers with more HP.

Anyway, Yuu charges Shiela and doesn't get very far. Looks like we'll need to glue Hime to him to up his dodge and increase his damage, or we'll be here all day. Its unfortunate that J doesn't have a Partner system like K and L do, I have the feeling it would very much come in handy.

They keep talking up like that the Brains are weaker than the Grand Chers, but I'm not sure I get why.

Also, if you notice, Yuu Brain uses a pointy Sword Extension(?) like the Grand Chers do, while Hime uses something called a Brain Bar with an 'in-y' bit. Because Symbolism!!

The Grunt Chers also attack, but they're not much of a threat to our heroes.

I do like the dialogue, although sometimes its confusing and implies things about the characters that never comes up in the game. Well, at least the game works as an advertisement for watching the series, although that assumes watching it would help.

On our turn, Yuu Brain recovers 10% Health and energy, as all antibodies do. It helps his survivability, but we still don't want to get hit again if we can help it.

As their will goes up from dodging and hitting, the two Brains unlock better attacks...but these are expensive in Energy, and the Brains can only recover so much. So we have to downgrade to the regular attacks manually to save energy.

Even so, Hime soon runs out, meaning she can't hit people next to her, and has to use the missile launcher on the others.

Meanwhile, Kanan just sits their taking potshots at our guys with missiles, and getting slowly picked apart. We're beating her Chers regeneration, but she's still fine for now.

Hime has recovered enough for 2 shots of her Brain Bar. It'll have to do.

Stop reminding us of that arrangement. It's still kinda a sore spot with me....

....Yeeaah, I don't care what kind of psuedoscience is backing you up, letting a giant rock wipe out all life in the hope it'll 'save' the DNA and use it somewhere else or something...isn't a well thought out strategy. A better one would be, y'know, colonising space and the other planets. Like we have been doing. So excuse me, but I think I'm ok with calling you guys crazy even if your space rock really is magical.

Anyway, time to act. The Strike with the Megabooster and the Water Jet has quite the movement range, so I send it off with the skygraspers sucking its fumes.

They don't quite get to the fight this turn. I possibly should have kited the bad guys upwards, but I'm Stubborn and Hime and Yuu are doing okay-ish.

Hime is still their favorite attack target because she's 1% less likely to dodge than Yuu. She's still all but unhittable as long as we keep using Focus...but using focus is hard to sustain and they're starting to run low after all this fighting. Plus, Hime's strength is in her support Seishins. I find its better to upgrade her mobility and accuracy and then use her to spam Bless and Cheer, where she's a really useful fighter.

Again, energy problems plague Hime.

Because they're balanced to fight Brains, which are among the best dodging units, Grand Chers have high accuracy with their melee attacks, which can mean our Gundam units are at risk. Caught away from his Friend bonuses thanks to Kira and Cagalli being faster, Mu is lucky to avoid attacks.

Kira takes that guy on with a weaker weapon and help from Mu. Losing his dodge boosters hasn't affected him that badly, he has that S rank in Water to compensate.

With the Aile pack, Cagalli's ok too. And she doesn't do badly given the lack of punch of the Aile Beam Rifle, considering the Chakra Shield and all.

I pull Yuu and Hime back for the turn to get the Friend Bonuses from Lasse and Nanga, and to give them time to recuperate. This means the SEED Team will be the focus of attention for a while.

Ow, thats a big hit percentage. Still, Mu can handle this.

Kira takes a few knocks for the first time in a while, but with the terrain bonus from water, the mech stat boost from the Water Jet, and the PS Armor, he's in no danger.

But it seems Kanan's dodge is enough to best him this time.

Logged

"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing."

Calvinas chance to hit a standard Grand Cher at distance, for reference. This is why I like to use stat points to boost Accuracy so much, especially on people without Strike.

It was only a small boost to firepower, but it seems to be helping.

I send a few people in to finish Kanan off, but it takes a few tries. But Mu levels up and learns Strike, which could be useful for the tricksier bosses.

By now you might be wondering why Kira is relying on the Gun Launcher rather than the classic Agni. Well, it seems I made an error: While the Water Jet upgrades the usual B and C ranks of weapons firing underwater to an S, it doesn't change a non-existent rank. So weapons that don't work underwater in the first place aren't changed, and the Agni is useless. Quel horreur! Also, the Gun Launcher has limited ammo, so we're gonna need Mu in a bit.

With everyone ganged up, the new Brains are doing rather well.

Weakened in the fighting, the Grand Chers go for Mu only to find he has Focus this time and can easily fight them head on.

The slaughter inspires Kira to SEED up.

Mu keeps fighting, with Cagalli on Support Defense, using the sword close up and missiles at range, until the missiles run out.

Then on his turn, he reloads the Strike. Good job, Mu.

Johnathans backup Edgar joins the fray as David seeks some victims for his ever-hungry fists.

More enemies start to focus in on Yuu again, but at 130 will Brain Powerd can use their Vital Jump teleportation at will, allowing them to ignore terrain and interposing enemies when moving and giving them a chance to auto-evade enemy attacks. So even though they're using Johnathans command aura for accuracy boosts, Yuu can still handle them fine.

In a risky move, but one that pays off, Yuu counters Johnathan with the 2-handed Sword Ex despite the odds.

The Grand Chers are almost all dead but still the bosses prove to be annoying to finish off.

Luckily this is an easy kill to feed to Cagalli. Edgar isn't worth much though, only gaining her one level.

Johnathan continues to be a nuisance however.

I use the last of Yuu and Himes spirit points to Focus and have them cooperate to weaken him, only for them to wipe him out. A good result from a plot standpoint, but I was kinda hoping the XP would go to someone lower level.

He drops a flight unit, which, shockingly enough, allows any unit to fly and gives it an A rank in Air. We'll discuss it shortly.

Like the others, Johnathan Vital Jumps away rather than doing one of those fake explosions other bosses who're not really dead do.

Haven't you been mostly at the bottom of the sea for ten years? How much would you know about new or old weapons?

Yuu and Hime teleport away to talk:

I think this is one of those scenes were the two pilots open their stomach-hatches and shout at each others while the Brain kinda float there staring at the antics. Its free entertainment and all they gotta do is open their flies.

"If you can't communicate with bullets then I just don't think I'll be able to understand you."

....I guess he didn't. And niether did we. Damn, so on top of the energy crisis caused by the Nuetron Jammers, theres worldwide disasters? Isn't there anywhere in this universe that isn't completely fucked?

Oh, so the earthquakes and tsunamis killing thousands are completely natural. That makes them so much better.

"How many ways before?""Like, 5 ways, man."

Regardless, Yuu leaves without another word.

...How does Organic-with-a-capital-O Energy work better than the nuclear-charged batteries most mobile weapons run on, or the gravity technology of Nergal? Are we just going to have to make do with the usual Life-Energy-Beats-Technology bullshit?

Our super-genius finally catches up to the point.

Oh Mu, you still have hope for the Federation. It'd almost be cute if it wasn't so sad.

"You'll get a dozen young Thai boys brushing you down tonight!"

....Huh? How do you know...about that...? She really was giving the UN reports? ....And they didn't stop the Reclaimers once they read them?

"Probably because its so delicious with mustard."

"Really? What's its role?""Getting teenagers laid."

...The Brain Powerd cast has major problems with talking past other people.

Also, does anyone else hear Geybridges dialogue in Colonel Campbell from Metal Gears voice? I don't know why, but thats just how it sounds in my head.

Anyway, as the man says, we're done for the day. Heres our Puzzle Robo for the evening:

The movement ranges and enemy weapons involved in this latest puzzle. Both our units have to survive the GINNs attack, but poor Kira is only on 10 HP, meaning any hit will kill him unless the PS armor stops it. They have no spirit points, this ones all about positioning. Remember, hit chance is 100% in puzzle robo unless you use Alert.

What do?

Ok, Roster Report: No-one did badly, everyone performed and they all made it back in one piece. And we have the Hime, Nanga and Lasse Brains now, virtually identical except Nanga has his girlfriends Eland Assault, and Lasse and Nanga can do a combo attack together. It is a point that we might want to improve Mu's dodge a little though, since he can be a tempting target.

Other points to note: To get the best out of the Brains, we need to increase their EN enough that their Regeneration can keep pace with their energy usage in tight spots. A little improvement to dodge wouldn't hurt either, just so they don't rely on using Focus so often.

Next mission has Eiji marked as a required character. Should we use this time to upgrade him? In any specific way, or just in general? Also, what do people think of his plot so far? And how would they like things to go? [spoiler]This level has a potential Secret in it, which I'm planning to get but which technically blocks off another secret. I can explain more if people who read spoiler text really want.[/spoiler]

Also we have a fair bit of money anyway because we didn't spend it last time, so I can take practically any suggestions on mechs to be upgraded.

Finally, we've found a little situation with the Strike and a way around it. Using the Water Jet with the Launcher Pack leaves us without its signature weapon in water levels (and theres a lot of water in this game, I don't mind telling you). If we're going to keep to the Submarine Strike plan, then it might make more sense to switch to the Sword Strike, as its weapon can work underwater. But the new Flight Unit lets us make the Strike fly without relying on the Aile, which also solves the problem. It could certainly be a valid answer...But there might be other units we'll meet in a few levels that also need it. Are we going to use the Submarine Sword, use the Launcher with Flight permanently, or just give him the unit for one level while we wait and see?

Logged

"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing."

First off, Hime Brain is the only one worth upgrading out of the brains at the moment, unfortunately... Though they DO have the advantage of having good attacks against underwater targets, something pretty much no one else does... Hime has ABSURDLY good stats, combined with a useful spirit list.

Second, now is a VERY good time to start upgrading Layzner, for reasons that will rapidly become apparent.

Third, there's no valid excuse for NOT giving the Strike flight ability. However I'd STILL take the Sword Strike over the Launcher strike.

Apparently Yuu feels the need to point out he know how to make the gun go bang. Apparently the 'You've got the safety on' trick is something the writer felt he had to address.

This of course just reminds me of Kira's little debacle with a gun.

Yuu Isami: More competent than super-genetic-genius Jesus.

Also WELCOME EVERYONE, TO BRAIN POWERD! It's like Eva, if you replaced the gratuitous religious symbolism with hippie life energy bullshit and the grimdarkness with the most absolutely adorable giant biomechs ever.

Ok, Roster Report: No-one did badly, everyone performed and they all made it back in one piece. And we have the Hime, Nanga and Lasse Brains now, virtually identical except Nanga has his girlfriends Eland Assault, and Lasse and Nanga can do a combo attack together. It is a point that we might want to improve Mu's dodge a little though, since he can be a tempting target.

Other points to note: To get the best out of the Brains, we need to increase their EN enough that their Regeneration can keep pace with their energy usage in tight spots. A little improvement to dodge wouldn't hurt either, just so they don't rely on using Focus so often.

Next mission has Eiji marked as a required character. Should we use this time to upgrade him? In any specific way, or just in general? Also, what do people think of his plot so far? And how would they like things to go? [spoiler]This level has a potential Secret in it, which I'm planning to get but which technically blocks off another secret. I can explain more if people who read spoiler text really want.[/spoiler]

Also we have a fair bit of money anyway because we didn't spend it last time, so I can take practically any suggestions on mechs to be upgraded.

Finally, we've found a little situation with the Strike and a way around it. Using the Water Jet with the Launcher Pack leaves us without its signature weapon in water levels (and theres a lot of water in this game, I don't mind telling you). If we're going to keep to the Submarine Strike plan, then it might make more sense to switch to the Sword Strike, as its weapon can work underwater. But the new Flight Unit lets us make the Strike fly without relying on the Aile, which also solves the problem. It could certainly be a valid answer...But there might be other units we'll meet in a few levels that also need it. Are we going to use the Submarine Sword, use the Launcher with Flight permanently, or just give him the unit for one level while we wait and see?

Ok... I say we take to the skies with the Launcher pack. As for upgrades, I say we spend a good sum on upgrading all the Brains' EN. Sure, they have EN Regen, but all of their attacks apart from the missile launcher (And the Eland Assault for Nanga) use EN, including the rather expensive but powerful combination attacks they get. With enough EN, we shouldn't have to worry about using it as soon as we get the will.Upgrading their dodge is somewhat less important actually, if we stick with group hug tactics. There will be more than enough Friendship bonuses going around to make them practically unhittable, even with low amounts of Mobility upgrades.

Upgrading SWORDJET's Mobility would work if there's any cash left over, though I would usually give it Mobility+ items instead of upgrading it, [spoiler]since Mu can eventually upgrade to the Strike when Kira gets the Beamspam Gundam.[/spoiler]

Units I'd like to see used would be the Brain squadron, the Layzner trio, Calvina (Obviously), and Blade and Blue Earth when we get them back.

Puzzle Robo...[spoiler]If Mu has Support Defense, try to position him and Kira next to each other, and don't attack or counterattack, just have Mu tank the hit for Kira.[/spoiler]

Ok, Roster Report: No-one did badly, everyone performed and they all made it back in one piece. And we have the Hime, Nanga and Lasse Brains now, virtually identical except Nanga has his girlfriends Eland Assault, and Lasse and Nanga can do a combo attack together. It is a point that we might want to improve Mu's dodge a little though, since he can be a tempting target.

Other points to note: To get the best out of the Brains, we need to increase their EN enough that their Regeneration can keep pace with their energy usage in tight spots. A little improvement to dodge wouldn't hurt either, just so they don't rely on using Focus so often.

Hmm, up EN, for the Brains and I think, evasion. How good is their dodging?Mu could use more evasivity yeah.

Quote

Finally, we've found a little situation with the Strike and a way around it. Using the Water Jet with the Launcher Pack leaves us without its signature weapon in water levels (and theres a lot of water in this game, I don't mind telling you). If we're going to keep to the Submarine Strike plan, then it might make more sense to switch to the Sword Strike, as its weapon can work underwater. But the new Flight Unit lets us make the Strike fly without relying on the Aile, which also solves the problem. It could certainly be a valid answer...But there might be other units we'll meet in a few levels that also need it. Are we going to use the Submarine Sword, use the Launcher with Flight permanently, or just give him the unit for one level while we wait and see?

I'd say Underwater Sword Strike then, pass the Launcher to Cagalli and the Aile to Mu for the time they're on the water. Since they're air units to begin with theres no issue with the beam weapons and if Mu is going to draw fire like he usually does he could use the evasion.

Logged

The mind transcends the body. It's also a little cold because of that. Please get it a blanket.

"Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. At 2:15, it begins rolling up characters."

[spoiler]"Just what do you think the moon up in the sky is? Everyone sees that big, round shiny thing and thinks there must be something round up there, right? That's just silly. The truth is much more awesome than that. You can almost never see the real Moon, and its appearance is death to humans. You can only see the Moon when it's reflected in things. And the things it reflects in, like water or glass, can all be broken, right? Since the moon you see in the sky is just being reflected in the heavens, if you tear open the heavens it's easy to break it~" -Ibuki Suika, on overkill

I'd like to see something in spoilers about this secret. And the other secret.

[spoiler]Okay. Basically, next level gives us the chance to unlock Gale as a character later on, as I hinted before. However, theres another character, one who's been mentioned but not shown yet, called Julia (Gales fiance and Eijis sister). If we recruit Gale then even if we fulfill the requirements for Julia, we'll only get him at the appropriate time. Who is better is subjective, of course. Gale is more combat oriented while Julia is a support character with some useful spirit commands.

I've gone without unlocking either in one playthrough, and unlocked Julia in my second: She's useful but you can use other characters. I haven't seen Gale. Right now I've been assuming I'm going for Gale, for a change. If you disagree, let me know.[/spoiler]

Logged

"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing."

Puzzle Robo:[spoiler]As has been suggested, move Kira and Mu adjacent to each other (Kira needs to go four spaces west, one north, and Mu can meet up with him), then have Mu Support Defend Kira.[/spoiler]

Upgrade Mu's Mobility if he's getting swarmed, and give the Brains as much Energy as you think they'll need. Give Kira the Sword Pack, switch the Launcher to Cagalli, and give Mu the Aile.

Since Eiji is a main character for the next mission, give him more gun. Upgrade his Weaponry further, since we have the cash to upgrade substantially now.

As for reaching the character limit: I say that we cut the Blue Earth (until we get Blade again), Lasse, Nanga, and finally Hime as necessary. I'd say to cut Mr. Javelin-Glock, but I like his mech.

Brainpower'd stages in this game are so annoying. A lot of enemies, all of them the exact same kind, with bosses that are the same unit only with a recolor and more HP... and they all have barriers. At least the theme song is awesome.

As for the secret.[spoiler]Gale was willing to spare Eiji, but he was still kind of a jerk about it. Not to mention that he apparently had no problem with killing off OTHER humans.